If you're thinking about picking this up, you probably fall into one of three camps: (1) You've played Dragon Rising and are wondering whether Red River is a worthy sequel. (2) You're new to Operation Flashpoint on the console but have played tactical or "milsim" games on the PC, titles like ArmA, Ghost Recon and the original Operation Flashpoint of yesteryear. Or (3) you have no idea what I'm talking about, but hey, you've played Call of Duty.Camp One: DR Veterans.Red River changes on the Dragon Rising formula in a few key respects. First, Red River gets a facelift. Gone is the washed-out desaturated look of Skira. Instead you'll get vibrant colors throughout the spectrum. You'll notice this from the get-go: the campaign kicks off at magic hour with towering snow-capped peaks in the distance. It's eye candy. Battlefield 3 eye candy? No. But purty.Second, the cockpit's off limits. You'll still see vehicles, mind you. A-10s provide CAS. You'll ride into battle aboard a CH-53. You'll escort LAV-25s down city streets. But don't expect to find an empty AH-1 waiting for you. Outside of a couple chances to drive a humvee, Red River is strictly boots on the ground.Third, Red River won't stop talking. Between the trash talk, f-bombs, smack and SSgt Knox's endless monologuing, Red River constantly chatters. Fortunately, it chatters effectively. When in combat your element provides clear contact reports and status updates. Friendlies even warn you before they cross in front of your muzzle ... usually.I consider those three the big changes, but lots of others come to mind: choose-your-own loadouts and specializations (rifleman, scout, grenadier, auto rifleman), experience levels, unlockable perks, stylish mission briefs, randomized FTEs, a point system for mission performance and a much-improved control scheme. Oh, and one more big one: absolutely no competitive multiplayer modes. Red River is all about co-op.Camp Two: PC Grognards.Red River is ArmA-lite (no pun intended). Command options are limited: fewer formations, fewer ROE options. Field dressings magically heal your wounds! Reloads are FPS-style: mags are topped off, not swapped. Your aim is bench-steady, even off-hand after a sprint. Enemies graciously shoot wide. Friendlies never run dry. There's no mission editor. And there's absolutely no community content. None.If it all sounds negative, bear in mind that what you lose in realism you gain elsewhere. Red River is a console game after all, and that means ease-of-use. Pop it in. It works.Camp Three: OFP Virgins.Operation Flashpoint looks, sounds and feels like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Medal of Honor. Yet it's a different creature entirely.To appreciate Operation Flashpoint you've got to understand that it's a difficult game, and difficult is good, difficult is fun. The designers feared that difficult was the opposite of fun, and on that misguided assumption provided you with all sorts of assists--an aim assist, a compass with enemy bearings, HUD icons, a crosshair and checkpoint saves--to ensure that you progress quickly and painlessly through the game. But it's a bit like playing Pac Man with unlimited lives. What's the point? Some games just aren't fun unless you can lose. Oh, and you will lose.So first off, choose HARDCORE--that turns off all the assists--and stick to it. Even when you fail a mission twenty times straight, don't throw in the towel and switch to NORMAL. Stick to HARDCORE, rethink your tactics and fix your mistakes. Playing Red River on any setting besides HARDCORE tastes like watered-down, day-old Call of Duty. Or a rehearsal for a performance that'll never come. Accepting that you're going to fail missions (and be forced to start over again) many, many times is the first step to enjoying Red River.The second step is to find some friends. Preferably three of them, all with free time on the same evenings as you. Red River shines when you're on comms with buddies, working through each mission as a team. It's not much of a single-player game (although, in all fairness, it's not bad). You might squeeze some enjoyment out of it on your own, but once you've tackled a mission or two with friends, you won't want to go back.Camps One, Two and Three: Parting Thoughts.If you play the game as it's meant to be played--with friends on HARDCORE--then Red River is, in my opinion, the best co-op game on the console, hands down. A friend and I inched through the campaign on HARDCORE, from start to finish, a couple nights a week for a period of four months. We came away loving it. Even when we failed we loved it. And that's saying something, because we failed at the sixth mission for two months straight.Before you go away thinking Red River is the greatest game since PONG, I'd better talk about its shortcomings. First, Red River has one major bug: attempting to join a co-op session fails under certain conditions. Unfortunately, I don't quite know what those conditions are, but I know how to get around the bug (the intended host should send the second invite because whoever tries to join first fails). That's just dumb, though; the game should work as intended. Speaking of dumb, someone at Codemasters put the sun on the wrong side of the sky! It rises in the west and sets in the east!But the biggest letdown by far is Codemasters' decision to steer the franchise away from simulation and toward entertainment. It's noticeable in the little things, like a fixed sun (no more dynamic day-night cycle). Or the on-rails solutions to certain mission objectives (e.g., must cross on footbridge, not main bridge). Or the infinite enemy spawns. At times this stuff feels cheap (Mission 1: Welcome to Tajikistan). At times it's exciting (Mission 5: The Wrong Way). Good or bad, it represents an attempt by Codemasters to be more like Call of Duty and less like Operation Flashpoint. I vote "bad," but I'll admit, despite those steps back, Red River more than makes up for it with mission design, graphics, interface and, at its core, great co-op gameplay.